


Break a Leg

by ALittleBitofThis



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Amputation, Angst, Avengers Family, Domestic Avengers, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Injury Recovery, Iron Dad, Major Character Injury, Missions Gone Wrong, Physical Disability, Physical Therapy, Prosthesis, Team Bonding, prosthetic leg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-18
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-06-29 00:57:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15718623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ALittleBitofThis/pseuds/ALittleBitofThis
Summary: Summary: Peter wakes up from an Avengers mission gone wrong to find something missing. As he struggles to adjust to his new normal, the Avengers are there to help with his recovery every step of the way. Warning: amputation and loss of limbPrompt: Yooooooo, what if [ hear me out ] Peter loses a limb, a leg, during a mission with the avengers. They, the avengers, help him with physical therapy and it becomes a big ol' bonding section between all of the avengers. Tony then makes him a prosthetic leg that helps him walk. After awhile he goes back to being Spider-man.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Oh my gooooddddd!!! I really love this idea. I started writing and it just sorta took off. I didn’t fit the whole prompt in, but here’s the first part! It’ll probably be a two-parter, but possibly three. (more notes at the end)

Peter jolted awake, eyes shooting open. The bright lights blinded him, but he still rushed to sit up. The building! It was going to-

“Whoa, Whoa!” Tony was there, quickly moving into the teenager’s vision. He pushed him back down. “Calm down, Pete. You’re okay.”

“But- the building..,” Peter gasped, looking up. He expected to see a roof coming down on him, but instead he saw the familiar ceiling of the medical bay. What?

“Shh,” Tony’s arm held him down, not forcefully, but just enough to where he didn’t try to sit up again. His other hand reached for the call button. “Just breathe.” Peter nodded, shutting his eyes to steady himself. After a minute, he felt his heart rate returning to normal.

“What happened? Last thing I remember we were at the hydra camp, and they rigged the warehouse,” Peter struggled to remember, but he didn’t know how he got here.

“The building came down. You were knocked out by the debris, but you’re..,” Tony paused to find the right word. “alive.” Peter’s face turned to confusion, but before he could ask anything, Helen Cho came in.

“He’s awake? Good,” She gave Peter a warm smile. He blinked. What was Helen doing here? Usually Bruce covered all their medical stuff. Was Bruce okay?

“Hi..,” Peter gave her a skeptical look, but the woman pretended not to notice. She pulled up the panel with his vitals on it.

“How do you feel?” Helen asked, touching his shoulder lightly.

“Umm… a bit of a headache and thirst, but I’m okay. How long was I out?” Peter’s mind drifted to Aunt May. She must be worried sick.

“About 20 hours,” Tony seemed to read his mind. “May needed to take a nap, but I’ll wake her up in a bit.”

“Wait… May is here?”

“She was worried.”

“But I was just knocked out. I’m fine,” Peter protested. His brain was still groggy, but something felt off. Tony wouldn’t usually bring May to the compound…

"We should get some food in you,” Helen interjected. “Tony, why don’t you go grab him something from the kitchen?” Tony hesitated, eyes flickering between the pair, but he eventually peeled himself away from Peter. When the door was shut, Helen looked him over some more, shining a flashlight into his eyes. Peter squinted.

“Still got that headache?” Helen asked. Her hand gently touched the top of his head, feeling the swollen bump from the concussion.

“It’s getting worse the longer I’m awake,” Peter admitted. With most of the Avengers, he’d try to play the tough card, but Bruce drilled into him that medical situations called for honesty to be on the safe side. Peter assumed Dr. Cho would be just as adamant.

“I’ll increase the pain meds,” Helen murmured. She moved out of his vision to adjust the drip running into the back of his hand. Cho wrote some stuff down on a notepad as Tony reentered.

“I brought you scrambled eggs, Pete,” Tony set the plate aside for a minute and grabbed the bed tray. He set it up specifically so it covered Peter’s hips, and Tony dimmed the lights some. Peter assumed it was to help his overwhelmed senses. He was wrong.

“Thanks, Mr.Stark,” Peter smiled. Cho pushed the button the bed to help him sit up. The room was quiet as Peter ate the food. The silence almost felt tense to Peter, but he shrugged it off as his concussion. When he finished, he set his plate on the side table instead of the bed tray. Tony stood up.

“What’re you-“

“I’m bored. Where’s my phone?” Peter asked. His fingers curled around the bed tray to move it aside, but Tony was there, pulling his hand away but disguising it as a hug.

“...Mr.Stark?”

“Sorry. Just glad you’re okay. Why don’t you stay in bed for a bit, sport?” When Tony pulled away, Peter tried to read his worried eyes. How badly had he been knocked out?

“Okay… I feel fine, but phone?”

“It’s in your room,” Tony answered. He started to offer to get it, but Peter was moving again. Tony tried to stop him, but the kid had already moved the bed tray.

“Oh. I can get it. It probably needs a charger which you won’t be able to find unless I-“ Peter started to swing his legs to the edge of the bed, but froze. Something was missing. Tony tried to grab the boy’s hand, but it beat him to his hips.

Peter’s heart skipped a beat. No. He was definitely imagining this. It was the concussion… But the longer he tried to find his left knee, the more his breath hitched, eyes widening. “Oh my god. Tony. Where’s- where’s-“

“Peter-“ Tony grabbed his wrist, pulling it back up, but the superhero fought his grip.

“Where’s my- my leg?! Oh god. I can’t- I don’t know where-“ Peter stammered, panic drowning him in a sudden wave. Tony struggled to keep his hand from returned to his thigh, but the teenager started thrashing, tears welling in his eyes.

“Peter! Stop! Calm down. Please,” Tony pleaded, fighting to keep his own anxiety under control. He grabbed Peter’s chin, forcing the boy to look at him instead of his lower body.

“I- Tony,” Peter was hyperventilating. His brain tried to process what was happening, but everything and nothing went through it at once. “What happened?!”

Tony opened his mouth, but he didn’t know how to respond. How could he possibly tell him? The kid was staring at him with that same look as Titan, believing in him to make everything alright. Helen intervened, setting her hand on Peter’s shoulder again.

“Peter… we had to amputate your leg,” She spoke the words clearly, but she spoke as if the words would turn around and attack her at any moments. Peter’s chest tightened as his brain heard the words. It took a moment to register. It started with a shiver. Then a shudder that ran through his entire remaining body.

“Peter… breathe,” Tony warned. A strangled sob escaped the boy. Tears began to stream from Peter’s eyes, covering his face quickly. Within moments, Peter was wailing, shoulders shaking violently with the sobs. Tony pulled him into a hug, pressing the youngest Avenger’s face into his shoulder.

“Shhh. It’s okay. It’s gonna be okay,” Tony promised, rubbing his back carefully. Peter quivered against him, mind racing through millions of fears and anxieties. It couldn’t be gone. His leg wasn’t… he wasn’t…  but they had… another thought struck him, and Peter suddenly wrenched out of Tony’s arms.

“You! You cut it off! You- you-” Peter growled. Tony started to say something but Spider-Man grabbed the front of his shirt, yanking the billionaire closer. “You did this!”

“We had to! You were going to die!” Tony’s eyes widened at the anger in Peter’s eyes. He tried to pull the hand off of his shirt, and Peter shoved him backwards. Tony stumbled into the counter painfully.

“Cho!” Tony cried.

“This is your fault!” Peter shrieked. Cho rushed to the drip, turning the pain meds up to full. “It’s your fault!”

Tony watched, horrified, as Peter screamed obscenities at him. However, all the thrashing and the sobbing slowed as the drugs kicked in, knocking him out cold within moments.

“What the hell was that?!” Tony asked. Cho shook her head sadly.

"He’s in shock. I doubt he knew what he was saying,” Helen tentatively adjusted the drip back to a normal level, but a level that would keep him out for a few hours. “Do you want to restrain him?”

“No,” Tony’s heart wrenched at the idea of his kid waking up and being unable to move. “Just let him sleep a little longer.”

* * *

Peter woke up later, but this time, he didn’t speak. He just cried. Tears flowed freely down his cheeks, and the bile in his throat threatened to choke him. This time, May was there, not Tony. She just held his hand, running her other fingers through his hair until he passed out again.

* * *

The next time Peter came to, he wanted answers, and they sent Steve in to give them. Steve was visibly uncomfortable, but Tony didn’t have the heart to tell Peter the details, and to his credit, Steve kept his composure incredibly well as the kid asked about the injury.

Peter learned that the building had indeed collapsed, but only he, Bruce, and Thor were trapped under the rubble. Thor was fine on account of his godliness, and Bruce broke most of his ribs, but he hulked out to escape. That left Peter.

According to Steve, they’d found him under a solid layer of rubble. He was alive, but a rock knocked him out in the fall, and his leg was trapped under both rebar and a steel beam. They’d moved him and gotten him back to the compound, but his leg was wrecked. The rebar had gone through his lower leg, and the beam crushed most of the bone.

They’d tried to save it, but the bone shards damaged several nerves, veins, and arteries. Even if they didn’t amputate it, his leg would’ve never worked again, and in the end, the internal bleeding left them no choice.

Additionally, Tony had lied about the timing of it all. The surgery took four hours and between the concussion and blood loss, it was three days before he woke up for the first time. Apparently, he’d also gotten several broken ribs that his powers healed before he roused.

“I’m sorry about this, Peter. I really am. I wish we could’ve done more to help,” Steve apologized. His voice was soft, but the man carefully kept the pity of it, knowing from experience that it only angered patients.

“It’s okay,” Peter sniffled. “Thank you for being honest, sir. You saved my life, I’m sure.” Steve had nodded, standing up and gently patting his shoulder before he stalked out of the room.

* * *

The next day, Tony offered to move him to the living room. Peter didn’t know if he wanted to face the team, but the monotone walls of the medical bay were killing him with boredom, so he agreed. He’d wanted to try walking, but they wouldn’t let him. Steve came and carried him to the living room before the rest of the team woke up and settled him on the couch under a thick blanket. Natasha was the first to come in for breakfast. If she was surprised to see him, she hid it well.

“Hey little spider. How you doing?” She cooed, running a soft hand through his hair. Peter just shrugged. The rest of the team wandered into the combined kitchen/living area, and Peter worried he’d have to move to the table, but the team seemed to sense the anxiety. When Steve finished cooking, everyone grabbed their plates and sat in the living room. Peter was thankful that the conversation was casual, and the topic had nothing to do with him or their previous mission; Natasha and Clint were sharing funny stories of missions gone wrong.

Rhodey had sat down on the other end of Peter’s couch. At some point in time, he caught Peter staring at the device Tony had made for him and smiled knowingly. “Tony’s almost done with yours. You’ll be okay, kiddo.” He tickled Peter’s side lightly, forcing the kid to crack a smile. It faded when he caught a few other Avengers looking at the pair. Clint felt the tension and suggested watching a movie.

About an hour in, Peter began to crave popcorn. He considered asking Natasha to get it for him, but something stopped him. It wasn’t too far to the kitchen. He’d be fine. He had to at least try. When Tony left the room to take a phone call, Peter shifted his leg to the side of the couch. Rhodes looked at him in alarm.

“Where are you going?”

“Popcorn,” Peter said, as casually as he could manage. Don’t overthink it. He grabbed the arm of the couch and pushed himself upright. He only wobbled for a few moments when he stood up, and then he started to work his way to the kitchen. He could feel the eyes on his back with each hop, but did his best to ignore them. He could do this. However, the longer he stayed up, the more his leg felt like jelly. Almost there, Pete. You’re halfway there. Nope. He started to lose his balance, but a strong pair of arms wrapped around his waist.

“I got you,” Clint promised over his shoulder.

“I don’t need help! I can walk.”

“I know. I won’t pick you up. Just let me keep you from falling.” Peter nodded slowly and let Clint pull the teenager’s arm across his shoulders. It was an agonizingly slow pace to the kitchen, but they got there. Peter pulled away from Clint, using the counter for support as he grabbed a bag of popcorn. Steve had paused the movie, and the group waited patiently for the popcorn to be out of the microwave.

“Okay,” Peter clutched the bowl against his chest. Clint tried to take the bowl from him, but the kid was determined to hold it himself, so they compromised. Peter did most of the work, but Clint had a hand on his elbow just in case as he hopped across the open space. Peter tried to keep all the popcorn in the bowl- he’d specifically chosen an oversized bowl to try and combat the jostling. Almost there. Just a little further.

Peter pulled his arm away from Clint as they got back to the living area. The couch backed up to the half-step down, so he just had a few more hops to go. Peter steadied himself on the armrest and jumped down the small step. He landed on the side of his foot and crumpled to the side. No!

Steve, who was sitting on the floor, shot his arms out at lightning speed, catching Peter before his hips hit the ground. Popcorn flew everywhere when the bowl slipped out of his arms, and Peter’s eyes were red as Steve sat him back up against the couch. “You okay?” Steve asked quietly.

“No,” Peter whispered, rubbing at his eyes. Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry!

“Pete, it’s okay,” Natasha scooted to his other side and wrapped an arm around his shoulders- which quivered quietly.

“No. I couldn’t even get a stupid bowl of popcorn!” Peter hissed.

“It’s going to take time to recover,” Rhodes reminded.

“I  _ know _ . I just feel so useless,” Peter sighed. A tear escaped from his eye, and he tried to stop, but the dam had broken. His cheeks were soon covered with the salty substance. Nat pulled him closer, trying to calm him down. Besides Tony, the two spider-themed avengers had bonded the most- Peter even called her Spider-Mom as a joke from time to time. Tony reentered now, and it didn’t take much to deduce what happened. He quickly moved in front of Peter and knelt down.

“Hey. We’ll get there,” Tony reached out and ran his fingers through Peter’s hair.

“It’s not fair,” Peter sobbed. He dropped his head, not wanting to meet anyone else’s eyes. Tony took a deep breath and looked at Natasha for help.

“We’re all going to help you. I promise,” Nat said quietly. Peter leaned into her shoulder.

“I know it’s frustrating, Pete. But take it from me: we’re going to work through this together, and trust me when I say it’s nice to have the help,” Rhodey grabbed Peter’s hand and placed it on one of his disabled legs pointedly. Peter curled his fingers into the denim jeans and nodded.

“You wanna start physical therapy tomorrow? We can do that,” Tony offered.

“Yeah,” Peter mumbled. “Sounds good.”

* * *

 

The next day, Steve helped Peter sit down on a bench in the training room and ruffled his hair. The rest of the team was there, but they were working on their usual routines, giving Peter the space he needed but remaining nearby if he wanted them. The door slid open, and Tony, Bruce, and Rhodey entered with a long box.

“You ready to see your new leg, kid?” Tony gave his signature smile as he set the package down on the bench next to him. Peter shrugged. Bruce patted his shoulder reassuringly as Stark opened up the box. Peter gaped, and Tony grinned knowingly.

“Looks real, doesn’t it?” Tony asked. Peter nodded slowly and reached out to touch it. The skin-like material even felt like flesh, and it was  _ warm _ . “Helen, Bruce, and I started working on this pretty much as soon as you were stable. It’s top of the line, I promise. This is the most advanced prosthesis we could make.”

“You didn’t have to-”

“Don’t even start with me. We did. Only the best for you, Pete. It’s going to take some testing and configuration, but eventually this should act just like the real thing. Here,” Tony held out a small device. “We even created a neuro device for you- kinda like the one I use with my nanotech. Put it on behind your ear and think about changing the color.” Peter accepted the tan circle and pressed it to the side of his head. He stared at the leg, and it took a few moments, but he eventually managed to turn it scarlet red with a texture like carbon-fiber, just like his Spider-Man suit.

“Whoa…” Peter looked on in awe and brushed his fingers over the device again.

“Want to try it on?” Rhodes chuckled.

“Yeah.” Tony pulled the leg out and slid up the hem of Peter’s shorts. The device clicked in relatively easily, and Peter could feel the weight when Tony let go of it. His fake foot hit the floor.

“Go on. Try and lift it,” Tony encouraged. Peter glanced at him shifted back to the new leg. He willed it to move, but nothing happened. His brow furrowed in frustration, and he tried again. Nothing was happening. Rhodey sensed the mounting frustration.

“Don’t overthink it, Pete. It’ll become natural eventually,” Rhodes moved one of his legs around pointedly. Peter nodded, and finally, his leg shifted, straightening out.

“I got it!” Peter’s eyes lit up with excitement as his foot now hovered over the ground. “Can I try walking?”

“If you feel ready,” Bruce agreed. Rhodey and Tony both grabbed an arm, helping Peter up. Once he was stable on his right foot, Peter carefully allowed his weight to shift onto the left prosthesis. So far so good.

The first step felt like a monumental effort. His brain strained, trying to send the right signals to move the fake leg forward. When his foot finally lifted, Peter wobbled a bit, but his teammates kept him upright. The foot slowly shifted forward and flattened out on the floor. Hesitantly, Peter transferred the pressure onto the leg, and when he was sure it would hold, he drifted his real foot past it. The teenager breathed a sigh of relief. He’d leaned on Rhodey and Tony more than he would’ve liked, but it was a start. After a few minutes, the group reached the pair of bars that Rhodes had first used for his physical therapy.

As the morning wore on, Peter moved back and forth along the bars, and walking became easier the longer he did it. The other Avengers supported him, coming over during their breaks to compliment his efforts or say he looked good. At one point, Clint and Natasha paused a sparring session and asked Peter to settle an argument about some Star Wars lore. Peter knew the team was probably just saying these things to be supportive, but he appreciated the effort and distraction. The teenager refused to take a break until his right leg hurt from overuse, and when Peter finally relented, Tony wasted no time in declaring that was enough for the day.

Tony, Bruce, and Rhodes returned to the living room. Peter insisted on walking there this time, so it took triple the normal time to get there, but no one seemed to mind. After lunch, Natasha opted to sit with Peter on his couch. The teenager was stretched across it, so she simply lifted his legs and scooted under them; Peter’s calves and knees now rested in her lap.

“Feeling better, Peter?” Nat rubbed his real calf with precise, practiced touch. The movement was subtle, but Peter appreciated the massage on sore muscles.

“Yeah. We’re getting there,” Peter sent a thankful smile, and then, his eyes lit up. “Look what I can do!” He thought and shifted the color of his leg to black. Digitized, white spider-webs covered the surface in increasing density. Natasha raised her eyebrows.

“Okay. Even as  _ Black Widow _ , I’m going to say that’s a little creepy. But I’m glad you’re having fun with it.” Peter blushed at the comment and changed his leg back to a flesh color.

“You’re managing well, Spider Jr. I’m proud of you.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promised a part to this prompt from a few weeks ago, and after a lot of research, I finished it! Read the author’s note at the end for more information on how I wrote this and links to some of the sources I used.

“Hey. I’m headed out,” Clint announced, bag slung over his shoulder. “Keep me posted, got it Parker? I’d stay but the Mrs wants me home to help get the kids to school tomorrow.” Peter nodded, but when Clint turned away, Natasha noticed the teenager fidgeting the way he did when he was anxious.

“What’s wrong?”

“I just… hadn’t thought about that. School, y’know? This week was my spring break, but I’m supposed to be back tomorrow. Do I- do I have to go? I-I don’t think I’m ready to..,” Peter stammered. Natasha interrupted him before he fell too far down the rabbit hole.

“No. Not yet. Not until you’re up and walking fine, Peter. You will need to go back soon though,” Natasha admitted. “But don’t worry. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.” Peter nodded slowly, and forced himself to focus on the movie they were watching. Natasha must’ve texted Tony, because he came in about half an hour later to talk to Peter. He paused the movie and sat down on the coffee table across from him.

“Hey Pete, quick question… do you  _ want _ to go to school?” Tony asked the question quietly and waited, giving the high schooler time to mull it over. Peter wanted to maintain his sense of normalcy, but he couldn’t walk independently yet. The hallways at school threatened to overwhelm his enhanced senses on a daily basis, but adding in struggling to move?

“I should, but… I dunno… I’m kinda scared,” Peter’s voice tapered off at the end, as if he wasn’t supposed to say that word- as if being scared was taboo. But internally, his brain raced through worst-case scenarios. Falling in the hallway, Flash seeing the leg and bullying him about it. He knew he shouldn’t be afraid of a bully, but he knew Flash would blow everything out of proportion, and that fact alone terrified him. Normalcy wasn’t an option.

“That’s okay, bud. I’ll talk to the school in the morning and we’ll figure something out for you. No rush,” Tony ruffled his hair before settling in on the other couch to finish the movie.

* * *

“Hey kiddo, wake up.” Peter woke up to a gentle shaking on his shoulders. He grumbled and rolled himself over to face Tony, who sat on the edge of the bed.

“Mornin’” Peter mumbled, urging his adolescent brain to wake up a little faster.

“Good morning,” May stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame. He smiled at her, and she came over to run a gentle hand through his hair. Peter closed his eyes, resting his head against her hand. He made a small noise in the back of his throat.

“We spoke to the school this morning,” May murmured, and Peter leaned into her hand a little harder. She scratched his head with a soothing touch. “They said we can homeschool you.” Peter felt a weight lifting from his shoulders at the words, but also felt a little disappointed. He missed Ned.

“How long?”

“For the rest of the semester. There’s about 8 weeks left anyway, so they said you can finish the classes online. You’ll probably return in the fall,” Tony explained. Peter nodded. That made enough sense.

“What did you tell them? Do they know about- y’know…” Peter motioned to his stump.

“Sort of. I had my lawyers draw up some confidentiality agreements, and then we told the principal you lost your leg in a taxi accident,” Tony said.

“Don’t worry,” May assured. “None of your classmates will know unless you tell them.”

“Okay. Thanks,” Peter said. When May pulled her hand away from him, Peter let his head fall back to the pillow, eyes drifting shut.

“Hey. No going back to sleep,” Tony chuckled, jostling him. “Dr.Maroni’s coming at noon.”

“Who?”

* * *

The physiotherapist Tony chose intimidated Peter. He was well-built, with broad shoulders and rather defined muscles. His jawline was well-defined, and Peter wouldn’t be surprised if the man claimed to chew rocks. Maybe it was the lack of functionality the kid had- if anyone asked him to fight right now, he’d probably be obliterated- but he felt unusually dwarfed by the large man. May rubbed the back of Peter’s neck as the man greeted Tony by the entrance to the living room. Peter only realized he was staring when the man reached out to shake his hand.

“Hi Peter. I’m Dr.Maroni, but you can call me Jayson or Jay. Whichever one you prefer,” He said. Peter clasped his hand automatically and shook it, praying that he wouldn’t notice how sweaty his palms were. The doctor smiled at him, his concrete features softening a little as his lips spread wide. He didn’t seem  _ too _ bad, Peter supposed. After a few more formalities, Tony and Jay settled on the couch across from Peter and May. Peter fidgeted a little.

“So… when can things go back to normal?” He asked Jayson. The man flashed him another smile.

“Well, Tony and Helen filled me in, and lucky for you, you don’t have a lot of the limitations that make the process recovery so long. Hear me out- for a non-enhanced individual, the wound at the amputation site typically doesn’t heal for 4-8 weeks. Sometimes we can get patients a temporary prosthesis about 4 weeks after their amputation, but the residual limb shape tends to change, so a lot of the time, they don’t get their prosthetic until 6 months after the operation. All in all, the timeline to full functionality is usually a year in total.”

“But-” Tony cut in. “You heal faster, and Bruce, Helen, and I are designing your leg, so we cut out most of the waiting periods.”

“We’re not going to rush into anything and get you hurt though,” Jayson clarified. “Helen said your stump should be fully healed in another day or so, and hopefully the shape should stabilize within two weeks. I think, based on your enhancements, you’ll be back to normal- or at least some semblance of the word- in about two months.” Peter blinked.

“Really?” He couldn’t believe it to an extent. That just seemed so… easy. Jay nodded, and Peter relaxed more, a small grin working its way across his face. “When can we start?”

* * *

Peter fell easily into his new weekday routine. Since Aunt May had to work and couldn’t afford to take enough time off to take care of him, Peter temporarily moved into the compound with the other Avengers. Every morning, Peter ate breakfast and went to the training room where he’d lie down on the mat and do the exercises Jay taught him to strengthen his hips and upper body. Once Peter could move around the room without help, Tony began taking his prosthetic leg during conditioning and stretching so that he and Bruce could make adjustments and improvements. Peter originally seemed a little put off by Tony’s absence, but his teammates were quick to jump in and help- Steve did the strength exercises with him, claiming that he couldn’t let Peter surpass him as the most ripped Avenger, and when the basic stretches stopped fazing the incredibly flexible teenager, Natasha stepped in to teach him more advanced stretches.

After conditioning, Peter curled up on the couch to do his schoolwork. Since physical classrooms don’t always teach in the same order as the online classes, he needed to redo the whole semester, making all the work seem rather tedious. Peter started off by rushing through units he’d already learned and looking up whatever he didn’t know. However, Tony was adamant that his grades not falter, so he and Bruce tutored the high schooler on all his STEM classes while a different tutor, a nice man named Robert, popped by twice a week to help with his liberal arts classes. When late afternoon rolled around, Jayson always came by to do physical therapy.

They started off slow, just walking back and forth along the bars, but soon figured out that the minute tears in his muscles healed so quickly that Peter didn’t get sore, meaning that they could train faster and for longer without running into problems. A few weeks later, Peter could walk on flat surfaces without assistance, and he was quickly learning how to walk on rough, uneven surfaces and staircases. On the side, Jay also taught him how to handle falling down and getting back up, climbing in and out of cars, and managing large crowds.

Peter learned that while Jayson looked large and intimidating, those muscular arms were remarkably steady, but gentle at the same time. Peter appreciated that sturdiness when they began working on advanced exercises like balancing on one leg (and then on a bosu ball) or walking along a low balance beam, and later, when he complained that he missed doing handstands and Jay hesitantly helped him into one. It took several tries since his prosthetic leg weighed less than his real one and threw his center of balance off, but Peter eventually managed to hold an upside down pose independently. By the time they finished each day, it was usually close to 6:30 or 7, but the team adapted to eat dinner later to avoid rushing Peter and his trainer. Peter video chatted Ned and MJ most weeknights, and on weekends, May often rode up to the compound to spend time with Peter.

Peter had thought moving in with the rest of the team would be some big grand thing, but it was really just hella domestic. Most days the team just hung around since alien invasions don’t happen all that often. Thor came in and out because of his duties on Asgard, Clint and Natasha had the occasional mission (sending all the Avengers seemed overkill), Steve didn’t have a job, Clint had his family to take care of, and Bruce and Tony just helped with research and development remotely at SI. There were still chores to do and movies to wash and texts to the group chat asking what people needed from the grocery store. Sometimes the team struggled to relate to and entertain Peter due to the age difference, but Peter found his niche catching Steve and Thor up on pop culture while they told stories about the worlds they lived in. Peter quickly learned from Steve that the WWII history books left a lot of things out, and some nights Peter could listen to Thor go on and on about the Nine Realms with unwavering curiosity.

* * *

“I was thinking… we should share this,” Peter piped up. He was sitting on one of the worktables while he and Tony made adjustments to his prosthetic leg. Tony paused, prompting Peter to rush into a further explanation.

“I just… I know you don’t like to share your tech because of national security reasons, but this leg… it’s ridiculously innovative. I’m sure this is expensive, but if we can get the cost down… think about how many people it could help, Tony,” Peter urged. Tony nodded in understanding.

“Yeah..,” He looked upwards, thinking hard. They could do it, theoretically. It would take a while, but they had the funds and the materials to produce some other prosthetics. Contrary to what Peter might think, it wouldn’t be a security threat at all- he’d just gained a reputation for being uptight about his inventions since the Iron Man armor, and Tony learned how to prevent any forms of weaponization. “That’s a good idea, Pete.”

“You’ve just helped me so much, and I want to pass that on to other people,” Peter ran his hand along the smooth artificial flesh. Tony couldn’t help but smile. Where in the world did he find such a precious kid? Tony ruffled Peter’s hair playfully, and that was how it started.

As soon as Peter finished his classes, they got to work. Once Peter understood the design of his own leg, the tech geniuses set out to make it mass producible. The main aspect they needed to change was a more cost-efficient way to make the same thing. Tony and Peter tested different materials to find a good balance of strength and cost, but that wasn’t the main feat. Lots of inexpensive prosthetics were out there, but none of them could be mind-controlled. With a quick call to Wakanda, Peter, Bruce, Tony, and Shuri worked together until they found a solution to make it widely available.

Peter practically vibrated with excitement when Pepper told him she cleared the grant with Stark Industries’ board, and as July swung around, Tony announced the new Arachnid Appendage Foundation, named for the ability of spiders to regrow limbs. The organization sponsored the making of hundreds of prosthetic legs within the first month, along with announcing that prosthetic arms were on the way. Peter helped make different tiers of the prosthetics, with different amounts of features to fit everyone’s needs and financial situation, to the extent that Natasha and Clint nearly had to drag him out of the lab when they started retraining him to be Spider-Man. The whole way through, both with patrols as Spider-Man and work with the Arachnid Appendage Foundation, Tony and May watched how brightly he shined and how his face lit up whenever they were able to help someone.

The week before school started again in the fall, Peter climbed into the car with Tony, May, and Clint after another long day visiting prosthetic recipients in the hospital. He leaned up against May tiredly, but with a warm, satisfied smile on his face.

“Hey kid?” Tony asked.

“What?” Peter mumbled quietly.

“I just wanted to let you know that we’re proud of you. All of us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took forever to write, but I just wanted to pay proper homage to everyone who’s lost a limb for any reason. I did a lot of research on the recovery process and potential complications- the exercises, the fitting process, the process of learning to walk again. I tried to understand what takes time in order to apply it to Peter’s situation. Using a post I found estimating just how much faster than the average person Peter heals (https://www.reddit.com/r/marvelstudios/comments/64uh6d/i_worked_out_what_mcu_spidermans_healing_factor/), I tried to adjust a recovery timeline and daily routine that would fit him, as well as how Peter would take this event in stride. For example, a lot of the waiting period before getting a permanent prosthetic is the healing of the wound and the way your limb reshapes, but Peter stuck with the same prosthetic leg the whole time since Tony made the leg and streamlined the process for him. He’s also young so recovery and training goes faster. Overall, I really got to learn a lot writing this, and I really enjoyed this prompt <3 Millions of people around the globe are affected by amputations, so if you want to learn more, click on some of the links below that I found helpful.
> 
> Sources:  
> https://myhealth.alberta.ca/Health/aftercareinformation/pages/conditions.aspx?hwid=ug3839  
> https://www.moveforwardpt.com/symptomsconditionsdetail.aspx?cid=7e9549ef-0bff-4b50-88f1-8a8bf4f1e496  
> https://www.netdoctor.co.uk/procedures/surgical/a4596/amputation-above-the-knee/  
> http://www.hangerclinic.com/blog/Pages/Learning-to-Walk-With-A-Prosthetic-Leg.aspx  
> http://regionalhealthprogramsww.com/Files/Appendix%20E%20AKA%20Post-op%20Education%20FINAL.pdf  
> http://cpo.biz/patients/faq/prosthetics/

**Author's Note:**

> lowkey didn't edit this or do any research, but in the next part, I'm going to try and mention recovery methods. Since it was a long prompt and my brain ran away with it, not everything fit in here, but Peter will start training again in the next chapter.


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